


Trust You With My Soul

by Blue_Sparkle



Series: Stories of Dwarves, a Hobbit, and their Souls [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, One Shot, alternative universe, daemon!AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-05
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 12:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/pseuds/Blue_Sparkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daemon AU; Nori goes missing, Dwalin ponders the extend of their relationship and daemons are misplaced</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trust You With My Soul

**Author's Note:**

> set after Erebor is reclaimed, can be read on it's own, without reading the first part of the series  
> warning for mentions of someone being beaten up (though that happens off screen)

There were things Dwalin would have preferred to going through accounts and the paper work he had to deal with in his Duty as the Captain of the Royal Guard. Fighting off Orcs in an ambush for instance. But growing up as part of the royal family and with Balin for an older brother had drilled some sense of duty into Dwalin’s head and now he always tried to do his best and get everything done on time and with effort put into it.

He could do other things afterwards, perhaps, and if not he would stubbornly pretend that there would be something to look forward to anyway, otherwise the dry text before him would be unbearable. There might be somebody in the training rooms willing and able to spar against both him and Muya, the bear daemon being unsuitable for anyone who didn’t want to exhaust themselves completely or who had a deamon who simply could not fight like most of the warriors’ did.

She had been easily bored lately, just as she was now, trotting around the study and sniffing at the corners. They hadn’t done anything exciting in some time now, nothing Muya would appreciate, too. She was large for a Dwarf’s daemon, even considering Dwalin’s height, so the both of them took up a lot of space, intimidating everyone who came across them, even most Men, who had fairly large daemons sometimes. 

It was why Muya had developed the habit of trying to stay out of the way, walking behind and to the side of Dwalin when possible, keeping away from masses of people and staying in the background, which incidentally also served as an advantage when people underestimated her size or strength, sometimes even forgetting she was there. It was good for guarding duties and Muya never strayed too far from him, by his side in an instant if he needed her or when there wasn’t anyone around who’d be scared by her.

It also meant that they couldn’t always do things they both enjoyed in their free time, such as going to a tavern with limited space, or to the markets when it was the busy time of the day (and truly, Dwalin was getting more than enough of large crowds while being on guard duty). Sparring was all right, but Muya grew bored when she didn’t get the chance to spar alongside him, which simply couldn’t be done with those who had very small animals or birds with fragile wings.

Thorin and the Princes were good sparing partners for that purpose, but Thorin was busy with his own share of work, and Fíli and Kíli had joined a delegation traveling to their neighbouring Kingdoms in the West. None of his cousins had had any time lately, not for long anyway, dealing with their families, or simply not being up to sparing or ruining somebody’s kitchen with a party and drinks. Either way, right now Dwalin couldn’t get drunk as he wished to anyway, later perhaps, after his work was truly done.

Behind him Muya sat down with a heavy flop, and Dwalin heard her growl in annoyance. He tried to supress a little chuckle at that, but she heard him anyway.

“Do not think I will let you forget this, making your own suffer like this” she grumbled and there was a soft drumming of her paws hitting the floor to emphasize her words. “You will regret this!”

“I suffer too, there’s no revenge to be had.”

There was a sigh and the scrape of metal, and Dwalin knew without turning that Muya had fetched her battle armour, which she now would polish and examine for blemishes as far as she could, even though it was already in impeccable condition. Dwalin did the same with his own weapons, when he was bored out of his mind or angry at one thing or another but not willing to let it out on anyone.

“That is the terrible truth about sharing a bond with someone nobody tells you of” Muya muttered under her breath. “You can’t even punish your Dwarf for making you sit through the boredom any more than he did to himself, and you can’t even be mad because I would have done the same were the situation reversed.”

Muya too had lived in the Household of Fundin, with Balin as a forming influence and Mythana always there to sit on her shoulders and peck at her fur, so she understood the notion of wanting to have everything done on time.

“We can go and compensate later”, Dwalin suggested and he felt a brief wave of hope and excitement coming from her. 

“Do you maybe think _they_ -“

“… Perhaps.”

She huffed and returned to her armour. Dwalin stared down at the papers, wondering if her wish to meet Nori and Katira would actually be fulfilled. He too wanted to see Nori again, but if he was a little too busy these days then Nori was truly overworked in comparison. There was always something that required the Spymaster’s attention, though not always personally and not always something that would have him all but disappear without trace for weeks. He’d still show up at his brothers’ house once in a while, and to report to Thorin, but it certainly was never enough to take a moment and exchange more than a few niceties and agree to have a drink once things calmed down.

Dwalin didn’t even know what exactly Nori was dealing with, apart from it being connected to a smuggling ring that might be expanding to a nastier sort of business. From what little he had actually heard from Nori and Thorin’s quiet whispering it couldn’t go on for that much longer so perhaps he’d soon have the thief’s company again.

For now there was nothing to be done anyway, but try to make sense of the requests and reports his guards had written for him to look through. They sat in the room for hours, the only sounds interrupting the silence being the scratch of quill on parchment and the clank of metal. 

The sun was already setting outside the mountain and the lamps and fires were lit all over the city when there was a faint scratching sound at the window. Looking up Dwalin saw a blurry red shape crouching on the other side of the thick glass and Muya sat up at the sight of it.

“Kat!” she cried in surprise and got on her feet with a happy twinkle in her eyes. Dwalin stood up and went to open the window latch, letting the lithe fox drop into the room. She was trembling and breathing with a soft wheezing sound, barely bothering to land on the floor as gracefully as she usually did, and Muya was by her side at once.

“Where have you been?” the bear asked, looking the other daemon up and down in worry. “Are you all right?”

While Muya tried to speak to the fox, Dwalin leaned out of the window, looking around into the street bellow and the abyss of the royal palace’s walls that was only a few feet away from this side of the house. It was a very open area, with no place to hide from view and not the most comfortable place to climb up the side of the building and enter through a window, which was why Nori wouldn’t often break in this way.

“Where is he?” Dwalin glanced back at the daemons, frowning. Nori hardly ever sent Katira to make an entrance without him, too cautious to have her enter somewhere alone. The fox whimpered slightly and pushed herself into the fur of Muya’s side. 

A cold shiver ran down Dwalin’s spine as he made a careful step towards her. She hadn’t spoken yet, and as Muya was present he shouldn’t really bee addressing her directly, but this was urgent.

“Katira… where is Nori?” 

She looked up, her eyes wide in panic and she was still shaking, twitching as if in pain.

“’s not… He’s too far, they took him and I couldn’t just let them grab me too!” she cried, her voice high with nerves and Muya let out a roar just as Dwalin let out a sharp ‘what’ and went to his knees to be closer to the fox.

He tried to look her over, as much as was possible with Muya trying to simultaneously cradle her in her paws and not touch her at all in case it caused her pain. She didn’t seem to be injured, though her fur was all dusty and the occasional twitching wouldn’t stop.

“How far away is he exactly?” 

“Ah, don’t know, ‘was at the deep unused mines, right by the undercity!”

Dwalin let out his breath in a hiss. That was far beyond any Dwarf’s tolerance distance, even if it was the case of a trained warrior or miner. No wonder Kat was in such a state.

“They noticed we were shadowing them, or somebody told them, but these bastards decided ‘t was better to just kill us or find out how much the King knows already! Pity, we nearly had them.”

That last sentence came out with a little laugh that sounded more like a sob, and Dwalin was sure she would have cried by now, if she only could.

His heart clenched at the sight of Nori’s daemon being in such a state, and he felt Muya’s fear and pain too, along with the helplessness she felt. There wasn’t anything a daemon could do for another who was parted from its Dwarf.

The urge to scoop Kat up into his arms was nearly overwhelming, and he really shouldn’t do that. No one was supposed to touch another’s daemon, even in battle and in emergencies one would hesitate to just carry another’s. Only very close family members and lovers could touch a daemon when there wasn’t an emergency, and Nori and he weren’t lovers, not really. Whatever they were, they weren’t close enough to touch one another’s souls casually, he couldn’t just assume that he was allowed to.

But Katira was in pain, and he needed to soothe her as much as he could, or at least try, it wasn’t like he had never touched her before, even if that had been by mistake and without an intent to just touch her, and she was looking up at him with large golden eyes like she wanted him to help her. 

Muya moved aside as Dwalin reached for the fox and carefully lifted her from the ground. Touching her fur was different from any real animal or even Muya, there was this sense of reverence and dread, knowing that he was essentially holding Nori’s soul in his large rough hands. One wrong move and he would hurt the Thief, alongside the little fox.

Kat let out a tiny sigh and relaxed a little in Dwalin’s arms, though she was still trembling. She nuzzled against his chest, forcing him to hold her tighter than he’d have dared to otherwise, and it seemed to ease her discomfort a little.

“Do you know the way back to where they hold him?”

“Yes, I can show you the way” came the reply. “I can’t- but if we hurry and catch them it’ll be enough. Whatever they’ll think to do to Nori, that’ll be all the evidence we need. It’ll be worse for them than what would have happened if they’d just let us do our thing.”

Kat’s eyes were cold as they focused on Dwalin’s, plotting a revenge even while she was still suffering herself. He looked up at Muya and nodded towards the door.

“Let Thorin know, and have guards ready. I will join them at the palace’s gates.”

The bear nodded and stormed off, far quicker than one would have guessed from her usual movements and what Dwalin could have managed. She would have everything done faster, and with Dwalin sending his daemon the urgency of the situation would be clear immediately. It also gave him some time to try and comfort Kat a little more.

Having contact to a Dwarf seemed to help her a little bit, though nothing but Nori’s presence would make her stop being in pain.

Dwalin had never forcefully been separated from Muya, even in training she would slowly test out the edges of their comfort zone and expand it gradually. That Katira had apparently ran further away on her own accord was an impressive feat.

“How did it happen?” he asked softly as he brushed his fingers through her fur.

“They attacked us and tried to capture me, too” Kat huffed and closed her eyes tiredly. “By the time they had Nori I couldn’t get to him on my own anymore, and I _needed_ to get him out so I ran to find a way to get him free.”

Dwalin winced in sympathy. That too, was barely imaginable. He had seen it happen when criminals were imprisoned, their daemons would never struggle once their Dwarves were already in shackles, going along with the arrest. In the instances where they _were_ separated, the daemons either snuck into the cells or stayed just out of reach but within view, neither daring to come close enough to be caught by the guards’ daemons nor running for help and actual safety.

He couldn’t help but be impressed by Katira fighting against her every instinct by leaving Nori’s side and coming for help. Even if it was theoretically the sensible thing to do on the long run, it still wasn’t something anyone would do.

Once he was sure that Kat would be fine, Dwalin carefully stood up and carried her over to where he kept his weapons, hanging his axes to his belt and picking up a hammer he could use without letting go of her. He doubted that she would be able to walk on her own anyway.

He was down by the palace’s gates in no time, where Muya was already leading his men in full gear, quickly letting him know that Thorin had ordered them to act as Dwalin saw fit.

It didn’t take much time to reach the undercity, where most of the old mines were, and from there Dwalin just had to follow the direction Kat was pointing them to. None of the guards made a comment about him carrying the fox, and perhaps they didn’t even realize he had her, simply following their captain as he lead them through the streets.

Soon Kat’s ears perked up and she hissed at the sight of the tunnels they were in, pointing Dwalin towards some inconspicuous looking corner with some abandoned looking sheds and houses around.

“That’s it, there’s the place they took him to, they have doors I can’t get through and backrooms they might keep him in!”

With a nod towards his men Dwalin lead them on towards the house. Muya broke through the doors with a roar and from then on it was just like any other raid, apart from Dwalin cradling a tiny fox in his arm and turning away from any potential harm to shield her, and with someone he needed to safe and who had suffered through Mahal knew what _hopefully_ waiting somewhere in the rooms.

There wasn’t much resistance, some Dwarves Dwalin didn’t recognize had sat around a table, but hardly anyone of them was prepared for a fight or had weapons ready, so he left his men deal with them, pushing further into the house’s corridors, searching for where Kat was looking at, desperately trying to feel Nori’s presence in the unfamiliar place.

There was nobody to guard the room Dwalin finally found him in, and there really wasn’t any need. The heavy door had no locks, only a well-oiled latch probably near to impossible to open from the inside, not without something very thin and sturdy to push it up through the door crack. The room itself seemed like an empty cellar with some lamps lighting it, there was nothing in there but a tiny wooden stool and Nori, crouched in a corner.

Kat made a tiny distressed cry at the sight, and Dwalin nearly roared as his daemon had just moments ago. Nori was leaning face first against the wall, wrists cuffed above his head, with chains leading down from the ceiling, not long enough to make it possible to sit comfortably and putting a strain on his arms.

He was dressed in only his trousers and tunic, both dirty but thankfully there wasn’t any blood on it, though there were bruises on Nori’s too pale face and he was hanging there limply.

“Nori!” Dwalin was by his side in an instant; kneeling down and reaching out carefully, not sure if he could touch him without causing pain. Nori took a soft wheezing breath and cracked one eye open, focusing on what was before him.

He nearly cried in relief when he saw Katira, and he made a weak attempt to move closer to her, so Dwalin carefully placed the fox at Nori’s side, where she pressed herself against her Dwarf, both shaking and smiling in relief at what little contact they had restored. 

The keys to the shackles were found quickly, hanging on a hook just outside the cell’s door, and in what little time it took Dwalin to fetch them and return, Nori’s face looked much more alive than it had before.

“You’re here-“ he managed to rasp, and Dwalin wasn’t sure whether he meant him or Kat. 

“Be still, your arms will hurt once you move them” he warned instead, kneeling down and quickly unlocking the shackles, helping Nori free his wrists from them. Nori swayed a little, and he would have fallen if Dwalin hadn’t caught him and gently pulled him into his arms.

Kat was there in a moment, climbing up and rolling down on Nori’s chest and pushing her nose into his beard. It made it a bit hard to let go of Nori or help him stand upright without throwing her off, but Dwalin didn’t mind sitting there while checking him over for injuries while the last of the fighting came to and end outside.

Nori chuckled a little as he noticed the concern.

“Doesn’t even hurt a bit, promise. With this little furball here with me I feel as good as new.” 

His cracked lips widened into a smile as Dwalin frowned down on him. Prolonged separation from one’s daemon would sometimes lead to this, a feeling of numbness and no pain apart from the loss being registered at all. Soon enough Nori would feel it all in full force, just as it was when one lost all feeling after lying on one’s arm and to have it back once the blood flowed through it again.

“I’m all right now” Nori spoke again, and leaned into Dwalin’s arms as much as he could, closing his eyes contently and holding on to Kat. 

Dwalin brushed his thumb over Nori’s cold cheek, letting his fingers run through his hair to untangle the knots. It was so soft, even while it was in a mess like that, nearly as soft as Katira’s fur. His bare forearm was nearly touching the daemon in this position, and when Dwalin noticed he stiffened, pulling his hand back. He shouldn’t presume that he could still touch her, that he had been welcome to do so in the first place. It had been to safe both her and Nori but it still was breach of trust to do so without asking first.

Nori’s fingers wrapped themselves around Dwalin’s wrist shakily, and he pulled his hand back to rest against his face once again. As he did so Dwalin’s arm brushed against Kat’s ears, having both her and Nori let out a content sigh and relax a little.

Dwalin had frozen when he felt Katira’s fur again, but then he too relaxed and proceeded to brush his hand through Nori’s hair soothingly, not trying to keep away from the daemon anymore. 

The noise from outside had died down in the meantime, and Muya trotted through the door, stopping a few feet away from where Dwalin sat.

“We are done here, and I have already told them to send for enforcements and healers.”

Her tone was sober, but Dwalin could feel the relief radiating from her. She wouldn’t actually show it here though, as long as Dwalin let her in charge of his men and their daemons she would remain professional. Neither the task of commanding the guardsmen nor making sure that Nori was all right required both of their presence, and there was nothing Muya could do for him if Nori was injured badly after all.

“Good. And make sure that somebody tells Thorin.”

Muya nodded and turned to walk back. Nori’s eyes had opened at her words and he tried to look at the door without moving too much. 

“Fools” he muttered and then grinned. “If they hadn’t tried to capture me… Trying to torture the Spymaster of Erebor will get them a harsher punishment than they would have gotten if they’d just let me collect my evidence in peace.”

Dwalin rolled his eyed, remembering Katira saying nearly the exact same thing before. Knowing Nori he’d later claim that whatever bruises and injuries this would leave him with were worth getting the job done. It really wasn’t, no matter how well Nori dealt with a beating and separation from his daemon, he shouldn’t have gotten into this situation.

Nori looked at him, the smile gone from his lips but the corners of his eyes still crinkled. He shifted in Dwalin’s arms, wincing at the pain and before Dwalin could tell him to hold still and not hurt himself more he had raised his hand and put it on Dwalin’s face, fingertips brushing his lips.

“Thank you” he said, and it was so quiet that Dwalin could barely hear it. 

“For … for this I mean.” He gestured at Kat who also was looking up at Dwalin.

“I could barely feel her, but it helped that you had her. It felt safe.”

His expression was open and sincere, a pair of hazel and a pair of golden eyes watching him with such warmth that Dwalin felt his cheeks redden and all words he might have said in reply leave his mind. That Nori not only didn’t mind him touching his soul as much as he had without asking for permission, but actually _wanted_ him to… That was a privilege that made Dwalin’s throat tighten.

There wasn’t really anything he could reply to that, so Dwalin just lowered his head to rest his forehead against Nori’s and gently brushed his hand over Katira’s back. The smaller Dwarf let out another sigh and pushed closer into Dwalin arms.

There was the sound of heavy paws near them, and then Muya was by their side, looking down at Nori and Kat, her eyes twinkling in a smile, but she didn’t speak; unlike Katira she rarely addressed any Dwarf, even if they were close to her. Nori’s head turned away from Dwalin’s, so that he could watch the bear.

“And thank you, too” he said with a smile, reaching out for her, fingers stopping a hair’s breath before her fur, not quite daring to touch her. He _could_ touch her, Dwalin wouldn’t have denied it even before, much less so now that he had been permitted to do the same, the thief surely knew that. However there always would be a hesitation before deliberately touching another’s daemon just for the sake of doing so for the first time. Dwalin held his breath as his eyes followed Nori’s hand, waiting to feel what it would be like to have someone he’d willingly trust with his life touching his soul.

Nori’s hand tensed and he glanced at Dwalin with an uncertain expression, and then towards the door. There were voices coming closer and Nori pulled his hand back, protectively wrapping his arms around Katira instead. 

A few healers entered the room, carrying a stretcher and asking Dwalin to help them put Nori on it and explain what had happened or whether he noticed any major injuries on him. Nori protested when he was made to lie down, muttering about how he wasn’t even in any pain and could walk on his own, but with such a long time being too far away from his daemon he couldn’t even sit up without help yet.

They carried him out, carefully manoeuvring through the corridors with Dwalin and Muya following close behind, making sure that Nori was all right. The pain still seemed to be numbed, but the longer Nori held on to Kat the calmer and less pale he seemed to get.

There were only a few of the guardsmen remaining inside the house, and they made way when the stretcher passed, two of them joining them to escort them back to the city and the healer’s. Nori didn’t say a word about it all, his eyes flicking from the healers to the guardsmen, then at Muya before glancing up at Dwalin again. 

He raised his eyebrows and gave Dwalin a questioning look, while Katira, who hadn’t tried to move anywhere that wouldn’t ensure she had as much contact to Nori as possible, shifted in his arms so that her long fluffy tail was hanging down the side of the stretcher, brushing against Muya’s nose slightly. It nearly looked as if that happened by accident, with her legs swinging with the movement of the stretcher as they were carried away at a quick pace.

The warrior barely stifled a chuckle at the display, hoping none of his men would see it. Dwalin met Nori’s eyes, who was still watching him and knew him well enough to notice it. Nori’s eyes narrowed a little, the rest of his face unmoving apart from a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth, which made him look exactly like Kat did, when she was laughing.

They looked at one another briefly, trying not to smile or let anything show on their faces, and then Nori settled back his head and closed his eyes, letting sleep overcome him. 

As Katira was dozing off nearly immediately after Nori has done so, Muya walked a little slower so that she was closer to Dwalin, gently nudging against his legs. He felt her relief, and the joy and gratitude of Nori trusting him with his soul, it were the same emotions that made Dwalin feel as if there wasn’t enough room in his chest for them. 

Nori trusted him to let him do something he was more afraid of than most other Dwarves, and he had wanted to touch Dwalin’s soul as well, just for the sake of it. He couldn’t do it now, with Nori asleep and hurt, and the company they were it, but Dwalin wished he could take Nori’s hands in his and tell him just how much he loved him this moment.

He would do it once Nori was healing and woke up again, which would most likely cause the other Dwarf to get all flustered as he always did when Dwalin showed signs of affection, and Kat would hide her face under her tail, glancing up with her silent smile. The thought of it made Dwalin smile, and he ignored the curious looks that were thrown his way, only watching the rise and fall of Nori’s chest as they made their way back up to Erebor’s centre.

**Author's Note:**

> Balin's daemon Mythana is a barn owl.
> 
> I actually wanted to write stories about Thorin and Bilbo both dealing with their daemons and thoughts on the differences between the races of Middle Earth in that matter, it would have been chronological, but there you go, brief Nori whump. All mistakes are mine, and this was supposed to be a break from my other stories
> 
> In this AU all Dwarves have daemons, and they can be at quite a large distance from one another (as they're miners an warriors who can train this), Men usually have them, Hobbits usually don't, and Elves don't have any daemons at all. perhaps I will explore this in another short one day.


End file.
